Magneto, Xavier reunite in new Avengers: Doomsday teaser

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/01/latest-avengers-doomsday-teaser-highlights-x-men/

Jennifer Ouellette Jan 06, 2026 · 2 mins read
Magneto, Xavier reunite in new Avengers: Doomsday teaser
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Marvel Studios continues to dribble out brief teasers promoting Avengers: Doomsday, which is slated for a December 2026 release—first playing in cinemas prior to Avatar: Fire and Ash screenings before becoming publicly available.

We reported previously on the first, which featured Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), the former Captain America. Over the holidays, a second teaser highlighting Chris Hemsworth’s Thor was released. Both are familiar faces in the MCU, but we now have a third teaser that brings in some new players. No, not Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom as rumored. Instead, we’ve got Magneto (Ian McKellen), Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), and Cyclops (James Marsden) from the X-Men franchise.

The film takes place 14 months after the events of this year’s Thunderbolts*. In addition to Thor, we have the new Captain America (Anthony Mackie), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Falcon (Danny Ramirez), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Then there’s the Wakandan contingent: Shuri as the new Black Panther (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), and Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejia).

Naturally, the Thunderbolts* (aka New Avengers) will appear: John Walker/US Agent (Wyatt Russell), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bob/Sentry (Lewis Pullman), Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). So will the Fantastic Four: Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn). From the X-Men franchise, Xavier, Magneto, and Cyclops will be joined by Beast (Kelsey Grammer), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), and Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming).

For good measure, Marvel threw in Gambit (Channing Tatum) and Xu Shang-Chi (Simu Liu). There will also be plenty of cameos. We can expect to see  (at least briefly) Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), among others.

None of the teasers contain much information about the actual film; their sole purpose appears to be to highlight significant returning characters. The first one leaked online a few days before its public release, revealing that (as rumored) Rogers will appear and will have a newborn baby, presumably with Peggy Carter. We got a bit of dialogue in the Thor-centric teaser (see below), as the god of thunder—now father to adopted daughter Love—prays to Odin to give him strength to triumph in one last battle so he can return safely home.

This latest teaser is set to a voiceover by Magneto. “Death comes for us all. That’s all I know for sure,” he says as the camera pans over Xavier’s trademark wheelchair and a chess board, before showing us the weathered faces of these old friends/occasional adversaries. “The question isn’t ‘are you prepared to die?’ The question is ‘who will you be when you close your eyes?’”

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars is currently slated for release on December 17, 2027, and will mark the conclusion of the MCU’s Phase Six.